Limit Breaking Genius Mage Chapter 390

Episode 390: The Hunt Begins

Amputations cause extreme pain.

Pain isn't just a simple transmission of nerve stimulation.

Permanent damage that cannot be repaired on its own is a terrifying prospect for any living creature.

Rayshen is a natural born magician.

Among them, in the case of research on living organisms, such as magic───'potions at the cost of life', he displays a tenacity close to obsession.

It is no exaggeration to say that life itself was born to prove its own hypotheses and abilities.

In the process, humanity was vague.

“…….”

One of the countless human experiments I've been subjected to over the past seven years, etched into my memory, comes to mind.

In particular, Rayshen was skilled at driving the minds of test subjects.

Verden caressed her little finger.

Skin and bones that can be felt vividly… … .

He released his strength with it and calmed his mind, then nodded to Hares.

It means that Rayshen has been discovered.

Only then did Hares recognize the targets of the operation and gestured, sending one of the Society's magicians out of the VIP room.

Verden's signal will be relayed to Cain and Adrian, who are waiting outside.

'There is no failure.'

Just be confident, but don't be arrogant.

Because you never know when or where unpredictable variables may pop up.

This ticklish tension must not be relieved until Rayshen is engulfed in a tightly woven web and his life is ended directly.

Verden didn't even glance at Leishen or Lobelin.

I just stayed in my seat silently, blending in with the flow. I spent my time with my face hidden by my luxurious robe.

After a while, the opening ceremony finally began.

Flash.

Magic devices installed on the ceiling illuminated the entire front of the theater.

Silence and darkness.

A small, specially shaped pipe organ that suddenly flickers.

In that quiet atmosphere, a woman with dark green hair and a dark dress slowly walked up onto the stage.

Lucky Melody.

It's certainly a rare appearance that's causing rumors to spread.

Even though countless eyes were on him, he didn't even look nervous.

I wondered if his playing skills were really that outstanding to warrant a nickname, but Ignacia invited him, so I guess he would be fine.

however.

'……what?'

Suddenly, Verden tilted his head.

A woman who simply bowed her head and finished greeting the audience, then sat down in front of the organ… … .

As expected, this is a person I'm seeing for the first time.

No matter how I looked at him, I couldn't tell that he was anything special, and when I magically distinguished him, he was definitely an ordinary person.

So why is it that it leaves such a strange impression?

Verden, overcome by a strange sensation for no apparent reason, rubbed his chin.

Meanwhile, the melody singer placed his hands on the keyboard and began to play.

───! ─! ──! ───!

The air split and trembled.

Before I knew it, the vibrations that were stirring my heart both internally and externally took over the entire theater.

You could even call it overwhelming.

Soon a woman's voice rose, adding harmony to the resonance.

Peace and happiness.

Hatred and anger.

Relief and peace.

There is emotion in the music.

In the first half, a pastoral landscape like a cabin on a hill was reminiscent.

The middle part was rough, provocative, and brutal, as if he was tearing the world apart like someone who had lost everything.

In the latter half, the gentle melody slowly washed away all thoughts. It was slowly heading towards the ending as if I was suffocating and dying.

The strong from each force, such as the Empire, the Federation, and the Magic Tower.

And the gazes of the powerful and influential people of Gargant were fixed on one another and lost their movement.

Everyone was absorbed in appreciating the melody singer's solo.

Everyone's reaction was different: some people had their mouths open and looked blank, others clenched their teeth as they were absorbed in the middle part of the performance, and some even shed tears at the end.

Verden was purely impressed.

‘… … That’s amazing.’

Just one person caught the attention of thousands of people.

A sight that seemed to affect people's minds as if by psychic magic.

Is this music?

Dozens of minutes passed like that.

Because the entire piece was one song, the performance continued without a break, but there was no time to get bored.

Finally, the woman finished the song, ending it with the last note.

It's a perfect start.

Immediately afterwards, countless audience members stood up and responded with a round of applause.

Some people even cheered loudly.

Verden clapped his hands together while sitting down and added a small compliment.

At that moment, the melody singer walked and stood in front of the stage.

As Verden blinked in question, Hares whispered softly.

“Sometimes, after a performance, the musician will throw a gold coin with his face engraved on it very high into the audience. It is said that the audience member who catches it will have great luck.”

“So you’re a lucky melody singer?”

“Yes. And it is said that if you try to get gold coins by force, you will be met with misfortune.”

It's an anecdote that will be on everyone's lips.

Giving others something special would be a perfect fit for the performance behind the song.

There's a reason people become famous.

Teeing.

The woman on stage bent down to her knees and stretched out her arms powerfully.

The gold coins sparkled and rose in the light.

It floated close to the ceiling, bouncing irregularly as it hit the magical devices and the theater's frame.

Greed flickers in their gazes.

Yet, as Hares said, no one showed their greed through action.

Bad luck is bad luck, but it will be remembered by the world as an embarrassing act.

'If it were the usual Rayshen, he would have secretly sabotaged things and still left.'

Since he was in a situation where he couldn't be seen, he only moved his head.

Even if you move your magic secretly, unless you can use <Arcane> like Verden, you will be discovered by the many strong people gathered in the theater.

Luck falls in curves.

People's heads followed the clear trajectory and soon stopped in one place.

Towards one of the VIP rooms on the upper terrace.

“…….”

“…….”

The focus was on Verden and Hares.

The gold coin shot by the melody singer landed squarely on Verden.

I reflexively snatched it, and the golden coin was reflected on the wall.

The lucky melody singer himself delivers his congratulatory remarks.

“Good luck to you.”

With this, her stage ends.

At that moment, as always, applause shook the theater like thunder.

Some audience members clicked their tongues and expressed their envy and jealousy.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

“……Thank you.”

Verden, who had become an unexpected protagonist, turned his gaze towards the stage.

But the woman was not looking at Verden like the others.

She turned her head along the connection of the compulsory magic circle engraved on her body.

At this very moment.

Verden looked at Isabella.

Isabella recognized Raytheon.

Rayshen turned her gaze to Verden, just like the other audience members.

* * *

The lucky melody singer who finished his performance at the opening ceremony came down from the stage.

Three men, presumed to be followers of Ignacia, <telekinesis> dismantled the pipe organ, completely clearing the stage.

'A lucky gold coin… … .'

There is no particular emotion.

But there was nothing to feel bad about.

Verden flicked the gold coin lightly and stored it in [Raindia]'s subspace.

That was when.

Suddenly, the lights flickered. Darkness passed by everywhere.

As the lights came back on, the girl was standing on the stage.

Outside, Ignacia.

The person who will be hosting the upcoming auction, Ignacia's Scales.

“Did you all enjoy the performance? This time, we invited a lucky melody singer, and the response seems to be very good. It was a good welcome, right?”

Although he had a uniquely innocent smile, the atmosphere was solemn.

Gulp, the third crown prince of the Arnak Empire swallowed quietly. He could not hide his tension towards the transcendent being who appeared without warning.

Most of them were like that.

“Okay, now that the opening ceremony is over, let’s wrap things up and get straight to the point!”

Clap clap.

As Ignacia clapped her hands twice, a giant two-armed scale, the Libra, appeared on stage in the blink of an eye.

One plate was empty, while the other plate contained a large, white object.

Someone muttered.

“Dragon material……!”

The existence of the keel, the core of this auction, has finally been officially revealed to the world.

Uncontrollable exclamations of admiration burst out from all over.

Ignacia is gone.

At the same time, she appeared sitting on top of the scales and swung her legs back and forth.

“As you all know, these are the remains of a skeletal dragon that we received from the upper ranks of Licentia. The parts are ribs. You can probably guess how valuable they are, right? That’s why I’ve prepared an interesting auction method of my own.”

The ants' maze.

A phrase from the newspaper appeared in the audience's minds.

“The theme is a labyrinth exploration filled with danger and treasure. The conditions for participation are simple.”

Ignacia repeated the explanation she had given to Verden and Adrian.

Participation fee and capacity of 400 people.

Catch monsters in the labyrinth and find various items that can be used in the labyrinth.

A tangible reward that can be obtained from a treasure chest.

A ban on conflict is declared throughout Gargant while the auction is in progress.

Guaranteed confidentiality of the goods you receive.

Anonymity, where the name of the murderer who killed the participant is not made public.

Hierarchy, restrictions on energy, seals, etc.

The people gathered in the theater listened to the conditions presented by the Transcendent One.

Some nodded and smiled in agreement, while others chewed their lips and expressed their difficulty.

“The auction will start 10 hours after this opening ceremony. The first-come-first-served basis may be fun, but if you’re not careful, one faction could monopolize it. So come to the ‘Grand Plaza’ in advance and apply to participate. We have to select the participants.”

Ignacia continued, smiling.

“And the ant labyrinth will last exactly 4 days! 12 hours before it ends, it will start to slowly collapse from the outside, so you better pay attention to the time! If you’re late, you’ll die. Is that enough for the introduction?”

The word death comes to mind.

A small number of audience members felt that the explanation was insufficient and raised various questions.

In fact, one of the magic towers that only brought in a small number of elite people had very few people who satisfied the auction participation conditions.

Besides, it is not something that can be done willingly to send a talented wizard into the deadly place called the Labyrinth while keeping his hierarchy sealed.

but.

“Oh, right. Since questions are out of the question, let’s disperse now and see you later. The opening ceremony is over!”

Of course, Ignacia wasn't the one who did it.

In this way, the opening ceremony of Ignacia's Scales ended successfully.

* * *

One by one, the various groups that had been filling the theater leave.

Some forces even rushed to find talented people in Gargant to hire suitable mercenaries to send as participants in the Labyrinth.

Verden watched Leishen moving while hiding in the crowd.

'There is an 'eye' behind Rayshen.'

Among the direct escorts he usually carries around, there is a magician named 'Shedgar' who hides his appearance and presence all day long and conducts wide surveillance in all directions or directly carries out missions that require secrecy.

The same goes for information gathering.

In other words, it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was Rayshen's shadow.

'No matter how much it is between me and the Society… … As long as Shadgar is there, it is extremely difficult to track Rayshen's location all day long and monitor the surrounding area.'

It's because of the magic that Shedgar pioneered.

Of course, it is not absolute, but it is clear that the possibility of being discovered is significantly higher.

It really cannot be helped that it is a nuisance.

Well, I guess that's only natural, since I'm the bodyguard of one of the Bohemian Tower's heirs.

To neutralize it, you have to subdue it instantly, so that it can't even respond.

It just means that you need to be patient for a while until the right opportunity arises.

'So, we're following Robelin.'

There is no reason to follow Rayshen around and take risks.

In some way, Robelin and Rayshen will have to talk about the ant labyrinth and select participants.

Verden left the theater with Hares.

Immediately afterwards, he used his magical powers with <Arcane> to send one of the signals he had decided on in advance to the members of the Society, including Adrian and Cain, who were stationed in the area.

Everyone started moving quietly, without exception.

“…….”

Verden raised his head.

The evening sky of Gargant, darkened after the sun had set, was reflected on the wall.

I took a deep breath and recalled my first goal.

'Until the first button is sewn, the time limit is about 8 hours.'

Before the ban on conflict begins, gouge out the eyes of the Rayshen Taillord.

The hunt begins.